The Great Red Dragon in Heaven

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This week’s topic:
The Great Red Dragon in Heaven

The Meaning of the Great Dragon

In Revelation 12:1–2, John saw a radiant woman who travailed as she gave birth to a manchild in Revelation 12:5. The reason for her pain becomes obvious in Revelation 12:3-4, where John saw “another wonder [sign] in heaven, … a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.” (Revelation 12:3)

This Dragon appears twelve times in Revelation—always as the antithesis of the woman, who represents the church and kingdom of God across premortality, mortality, the Millennium, and beyond.

The Great Dragon is a sign for Lucifer (Satan). His red color symbolizes murder and destruction (Satan was a murderer from the beginning). The same Greek word for “red” (pyrros) describes the red horse representing the destructive flood in Noah’s time (Revelation 6:3–4).

In Revelation 12:3–4, the Dragon represents Lucifer in the premortal existence—not the ancient Roman Empire on earth. Satan’s influence in Rome paralleled Lucifer’s power in heaven, but John saw the sign of the Dragon in heaven at the time of the Grand Council on Kolob.

Lucifer’s Dragon form had seven heads, each crowned with a diadem (Gr. diadēma)—signifying his claim to complete dominion, as if by right instead of might. His seven diadems pale beside the many diadems of Christ at His Second Coming (Revelation 19:12).

The Dragon’s seven heads are oddly paired with ten horns. The number 10 represents the “the whole of a part” or “a part of a whole.” The horns are symbols of power. Thus, the 10 horns symbolize the whole of Lucifer’s power, but he possesses a just a part of the whole power possessed by Jesus Christ. 

The Timing of John’s Vision of Premortality

Revelation 12:4 identifies three premortal events in order:

1. His tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven.
   After Lucifer rebelled during the Grand Council, many of God’s spirit children—the “stars of heaven” irrevocably committed themselves to his cause. The Dragon's powerful tail collected these many spirit children of God in his coils, and they then joined the ranks of Lucifer. They thus became part of the tail or an appendage to the Dragon (Lucifer) and his kingdom in premortality and beyond.

2. He did cast them to the earth.
   Once the stars of heaven joined Lucifer’s ranks, he (Lucifer) “did cast them to the earth.” (Revelation 12:4) This phrase is frequently interpreted as the time when Lucifer was cast down to this earth when the war in heaven ended in Revelation 12:9.

   That is not correct. Revelation 12:4 refers to the spiritual fall of Lucifer and his tail during the grand council. Revelation 12:9 describes the physical fall of Satan after this earth was created at a much later date in history.

3. The dragon stood before the woman.
   The foregoing timing is confirmed by the third event that John describes in Revelation 12:4. This verse states that after Lucifer’s spiritual fall, “the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.”

   If Lucifer had been cast down to this physical earth in Revelation 12:4, he would not still be in heaven to stand before the woman, who represents the premortal church of God in this verse.

Learn More

For a deeper dive on the Dragon’s premortal activities (Revelation 12:3–4), see the podcasts below.

🎧 October 26, 2025 – Listen here

🎧 October 28, 2025 – Listen here

(Also available wherever you get your podcasts)

John Cassinat
Unveiling Jesus Christ